Things to do in Montréal this June 2026

June festivals and unmissable events

Join the fun of Montréal’s famed summer festival season this month. Throughout the city, car-free pedestrian streets are the place to be for outdoor festivals, dining (keep your eye out for gourmet food trucks, especially at the First Fridays gathering at the Olympic Stadium every first Friday of the month!), shopping and socializing. 

Expect the unexpected at Festival TransAmériques, presenting innovative world-class theatre, dance and performance art on the city’s main stages and outdoors until June 10. At the same time, see even more live performances at the OFFTA festival, until June 7. On The See some of the world’s — and Montréal’s — top graffiti artists create new murals before our eyes during MURAL Festival, coupled with block parties and live music along Saint-Laurent Boulevard and beyond from June 4 to 14.

French-language music of every genre is on the program day and night during the 2026 Francos de Montréal, in Place des Festivals downtown from June 12 to 20. 

All of Québec celebrates on June 23 and 24 for La Fête nationale du Québec (also known as Saint-Jean-Baptiste Day), a holiday known for live music concerts in the Quartier des spectacles downtown, neighbourhood BBQs and community gatherings in the sun. 

The world-famous Festival International de Jazz de Montréalfeatures nearly 1,000 concerts this year (it’s 46^th edition!) by musicians from around the world, on outdoor and indoor stages, with dozens of free events from June 25 and into July.

Meanwhile, electronic dance music takes over Parc Jean-Drapeau every weekend this summer at Piknic Éléctronik. June is also the month of the Montréal Chamber Music Festival — top-notch classical stylings from June 9 to 21. Scroll down to our music section for more live shows happening in Montréal in June.

Summer activities, attractions and tours

We hope you make yourself at home in Montréal’s incredible hotels — there’s an accommodation option for everyone, from landmark hotels to family friendly hotels and boutique hotels galore. 

In Old Montréal, walk the cobblestone streets to the St. Lawrence River and visit the iconic Notre-Dame Basilica of Montréal — see the gorgeous multimedia AURA Experience, a wonderful way to feel the grandeur of this landmark.

Downtown holds one of the city’s most lovely churches, the Church of St. Andrew and St. Paul, where you can admire the beautiful stained glass during services or during the regular organ concerts.

In the Old Port of Montréal, after shooting a selfie at the glimmering BONJOUR structure, see views of the city and the river from the Grand Quay of the Port of Montréal, where you’ll find a cruise ship dock, marine history displays, green spaces and a stunning attraction: the Port of Montréal Tower. Nearby, treat yourself to bird’s-eye views on La Grande Roue de Montréal observation wheel. 

Visit the esplanade of Place Ville Marie, where the massive art installation The Ring glints overhead. Or take a break for entertainment and a snack at the Esplanade Tranquille café at the corner of Clark and Sainte-Catherine Street. 

One of the best ways to discover the city is with expert guides on Montréal tours: set your own agenda with private walking tours at your own pace, or join pros and let yourself be guided. See the city like a local with MTL Detours, take a day trip outside the city with N-tours or call upon the experts at Guidatour. For an unparalleled taste of the city, savour one of the expert two- or three-hour walking tours given by Local Montréal Food Tours — they range from Mile End to Old Montréal. At Montréal on Wheels, take 3 hour treasure-hunt bike tours around neighbourhoods including the Plateau, Old Montréal, the Lachine Canal and more, or slightly shorter tours specially adapted to families.

If you’re wondering why Montréal has so many colourful murals, hear more about them and their artists on a street art tour with Spade & Palacio, including the murals from the current MURAL Festival. For an electric bike tour of the murals, look to Fitz Montréal — their tours cover anything from downtown Montréal to Jean-Talon Market. To enjoy Montréal after dark (also weather permitting), head out on the Montréal by Night Loop on Gray Line’s double decker bus! Enjoy the ambiance and watch as the city’s most vibrant districts come to life after dusk.
You can also devise your own self-guided art tour (or follow one of their expertly curated ones) thanks to Art Public Montréal, a fountain of information on Montréal’s hundreds of public artworks that are viewable for free year-round. Explore their selection of podcasts, too, for the inside scoop.

June’s foodie musts

Montréal’s many food festivals happen throughout the year. This month, don’t miss

YATAI MTL from June 4 to 7, a family-friendly, food-forward celebration of all things Japan. It includes thunderous taiko drum performances, concerts, movie viewings and artist workshops. And then it’s POCHA MTL, from June 11 to 14, celebrating Korean culture and flavours with Korean barbecue, fried chicken, kogos and K-Pop with live performances and interactive activities. Both happen at the Peel Basin.

In the mood for a tipple? Head to the 5th edition of Soif de cidre, happening from June 26 to 28 at Hangar 1825 in Lachine Park. Participants will be able to enjoy sparkling cider and cocktails crafted by mixologists, all in an party-fun atmosphere. 

Indulge in incredible food at Montréal’s variety of restaurants all month long. Explore superb restaurants and cafés along Beaubien Street in the Rosemont-La-Petit-Patrie neighbourhood (also where you’ll find Little Italy).

Discover Montréal’s newest restaurants and buvettes, and don’t miss a classic Montréal brunch, whether you’re looking for elegance or comfort food. For some crowdsourced favourites, try Montréalers’ favourite lunch restaurants, from Old Montréal and downtown to Villeray or the South-West. Get a taste of long-time Quebec classics like smoked meat, poutine and Montréal bagels and keep on ticking the boxes on your must-eat list with these other musts for foodies in Montréal. 

Get an incredible bird’s eye view on Quartier des Spectacles from the terrasse of Bivouac, where you can taste the best of the terroir under the stars (and falling snow), or of Old Montréal and beyond from Terrasse William Gray. At Montréal’s oldest and longest-running restaurant, Auberge Saint-Gabriel, in the heart of the Old Port.

To fill up on fresh produce and local goods, explore the city’s beautiful public markets, including Jean-Talon Market in Little Italy and Atwater Market in Saint-Henri. Montréal’s smallest market, the Public Market of Lachine, in the southwest, also offers a great selection of products year-round to go with its quaint design.

Get your caffeine fix at Montréal’s indie coffee shops — and fresh doughnuts to go with it! Add more sweetness to your life at Montréal’s best bakeries and pastry shops, best chocolate shops and candy shops.

Eat plant-based with our ultimate guide to vegetarian and vegan eating in Montréal or join the debate over who makes the best pizza in Montréal — or the best tacos. Warm up with authentic Japanese ramen and Vietnamese pho. By night, discover the city’s 34 top cocktail bars, inventive Montréal microbreweries and late-night eats. Or mix Montrealesque cocktails at home with gin, vodka, rum and more specialty spirits from these Montréal specialty alcohol and spirit makers.

This summer is an excellent time to have dinner and see a show at the Casino de Montréal: have a sip on their patio La Terrasse Le Jardin, watch live music and cabaret shows that will entertain while you enjoy incredible steaks and more on the grill at Le Montréal, enjoy a gourmet buffet at Pavillon 67, and have quick delicious eats at L’Instant.

Downtown, explore the wide variety of excellent meals at gourmet food halls including Time Out Market, Marché Artisans, Le Cathcart and LE CENTRAL — or venture out to the de la Savane metro station to explore Le Fou Fou in the huge and tawny Royalmount mall. 

Summer sports and relaxation

On June 5, watch Canada take on Ireland at the Saputo Stadium in a men’s soccer friendly match. It’s going to be a kicker!

The NBA is bringing its official Finals fan experience, NBA House, to Montréal from June 5 to 8. Located at La Nesra, this four-day event features viewing parties for Games 2 and 3 of the NBA Finals, interactive games, Larry O'Brien trophy photo moments and NBA legend appearances.

Cheer on the Montréal football and soccer teams all season long: the Montréal Alouettes, the CF Montréal and Les Roses de Montréal, Quebec’s first professional women’s soccer team. If you can’t make the games in person, watch all the hockey, soccer, football, basketball, MMA and more at Montréal’s sports bars. 

Mark the 50th anniversary of the 1976 Olympic Games in Montréal at the McCord Stewart Museum, which is presenting Montréal 1976: An Olympic Feat, an exhibition that celebrates this landmark event in the history of the city throughout the month.

Wanna play? Head to the Centre Eaton de Montréal where the PLAYBOX Centre has a game for everyone, from internationally renowned crane games to arcade games, skill games and VR attractions. Super Super at DIX30 in Brossard is another super lively, family-friendly option, while Royalmount has a very fun arcade at The Rec Room, next to the Cineplex cinema, where you can duke it out in VR games and more before munching burgers or nachos (with accompanying cocktails, for parents) at the onsite eateries. Head to the Casino de Montréal to play on life-size arcade games at their ARcade by Moment Factory gaming experience: a fusion of multimedia and video game technology in two play areas that pits teams against each other in six interactive games. Each game combines motion-detection, projection technologies and videogame mechanics. Montréal loves exploring the retro side of play with its selection of arcades.

Montréal Bowling is the perfect spot downtown to play a few rounds of bowling, play some pool, watch some sports, play some arcade games and grab some great snacks and cocktails.

If you’re feeling more artsy, Art Chaos is a fantastic family- or group-friendly activity in Mile End, where you can paint crazy creations on rapidly spinning canvases, for a truly interactive experience. 

The West Island’s Ecomuseum Zoo is a wonderful place to glimpse local wildlife in their natural outdoor habitats and even have breakfast with some of them throughout the month.

Explore the many outdoor activities the city has in store, including the list of free things to do this season, see incredible city views from Mount Royal Park, celebrating its 150th anniversary this year (all kinds of exciting programming soon to be announced!) head for a walk through the park and up the stairs to the lookout, or bus or drive up to Beaver Lake. Stroll (or bike) around Parc La Fontaine, go to Saint-Michel neighbourhood’s Parc Frédéric-Back, or cross the river to Parc Jean-Drapeau for a riverside walk and a different view of the city. While there, visit the Espace pour la vie Biosphère too, for environment-focused exhibitions and more.

Speaking of Espace pour la vie museums, enjoy the Jardin botanique’s sprawling tropical greenhouse environments, or all its picturesque outdoor trails around gloriously lush deciduous and annual plant species. Experience several wild ecosystems at the Biodôme (there are penguins, otters, monkeys and more), explore the mysteries of the universe at the Planétarium, and learn about the thousands of butterflies, moths and other insects at the Insectarium. 

For the ultimate relaxation session after a day of trekking (or just because you deserve it), visit Bota Bota, spa-sur-l’eau, a unique spa set up in a pair of moored boats on the St. Lawrence River in the Old Port, and other world-class spas like Spa William Gray, Moment Spa, Spa St. James, Scandinave Spa Vieux-Montréal, Avie Spa & Coiffure, Rainspa and Strøm Nordic Spa.

Summer shopping

Shop for some new hot weather staples in anticipation of the upcoming thaw, starting in Old Montréal’s boutiques, downtown along Sainte-Catherine Street and in the wonderfully air conditioned Underground City malls. The Centre Eaton de Montréal and Place Montréal Trust are full of the latest styles from the hottest shops, including Uniqlo, Nike, Aritzia, Decathlon and many more boutiques (and remember to ask for a VIP Visitor Card at Guest Services for exclusive discounts only for tourists). 

Keep your eye out for items made by Montréal designers, relaxing self-care staples and plenty of sparkly goods from the coolest Montréal jewellery stores.

Find foodstuffs from local artisans as well as imported delicacies at Montréal’s public markets, and shop local and eco-friendly at the most fabulous vintage boutiques in the city. Pick out the perfect new books for friends and family from Montréal’s bookstores, and dive into a wide world of music at Montréal’s excellent vinyl stores.

Forgot to pick up souvenirs? Fear not, Montréal-Trudeau International Airport (YUL)has got you covered. The focus on local goods in both the domestic and the international zones range from food to goods, including scarves and bags from M0851, yoga gear from Lolë and novels by local authors. Start your foray at Découvrir Montréal.

On stage in June

Montréal’s cultural calendar is packed this season, with entertainment for everyone on the city’s many stages. Among the world-class theatre, dance, opera, circus and more gracing the city’s stages throughout June, you’ll find the last bit of Festival TransAmériques, presenting innovative world-class theatre, dance and performance art on the city’s main stages and outdoors until June 10, and OFFTA, too, until June 7.

Throughout June, head to the Old Port and enjoythe spectacle of the Cirque du Soleil’s ECHO under the blue and white big top. Poetry, stagecraft, daring acrobatics and cutting-edge technology come together to explore the delicate balance between people, animals, and the world we all share.

Until June 7 at Salle Wilfrid-Pelletier, enjoy the Grands Ballets Canadiens’ The Lake. It tells the story of Odette, the enchanted protagonist of Swan Lake, as she stands at the intersection of a ballerina’s existence — a moment of transformation and transcendence. 

From June 2 to 6 at Monument-National, Braids & Heritage is a dance show that destabilizes and decolonizes the mythology of the cowboy, as dancers Stacey Désilier and Jossua Satinée take to the stage in cowboy boots and launch into a line dance.

The Romeo is a dance show from June 4 to 6 at Théâtre Jean-Duceppe that will hit ya with a flurry of costumed figures, a motley crew united in a dance choreographed by Trajal Harrell that blurs boundaries, mixes origins and conflates eras.

Moulin Rouge: The Musical takes over Salle Wilfrid-Pelletier from June 9 to 14 with a world of splendour and romance, dazzling excess, opulence, grandeur and glory.

Theatre-wise, until June 14, Grow is an outrageously fun and big-hearted new Canadian musical about family, faith, and one very special plant. It’ll have you seeing green. It happens at the Segal Theatre.

On June 11 and 25, catch the bilingual comedy night at the glorious Caf’Conc’, among the most beautiful venues in town, now fully refurbished in all its red-velvet glory. On Friday June 19 it’s time for a full-fledged cabaret hosted by Rita Baga, featuring other drag queens as well as magic, music and burlesque. Catch up on the programming here.

Onscreen in June

Take a break from the gorgeous sunshine in a cool theatre: the Montréal Science Centre’s IMAX cinema puts nature on the giant screen in all its glory. This month you can see Wild Asia throughout June, where you can watch a Tibetan fox hide-and-seek hunt among yaks on the Tibetan Plateau, catch intimate glimpses of the red panda in its Himalayan stronghold, meet the long-eared jerboa in the Gobi Desert, see long-tailed tits feeding on mysterious sap icicles in Japan, and dive into the Pacific’s coral seas to witness a shark feeding frenzy never filmed before.

See independent features, family films, documentaries and more at Montréal’s indie cinemas including Cinéma Moderne, Cinéma du Parc, Cinéma du Musée at the Montréal Museum of Fine Arts, and the iconic Cinémathèque québécoise in the Quartier des Spectacles (the city’s entertainment district).

Explore the city through cinema in these Hollywood movies made in Montréal.

Live music in June

We’ve got the perfect overview of Montréal’s big, can’t-miss concerts of 2026 so you can plan your highlights of the year.

Festival-wise, French-language music of every genre is on the program day and night during the 2026 Francos de Montréal, in Place des Festivals downtown from June 12 to 20. 

All of Québec celebrates on June 23 and 24 for La Fête nationale du Québec (also known as Saint-Jean-Baptiste Day), a holiday known for live music concerts in the Quartier des spectacles downtown. 

The world-famous Festival International de Jazz de Montréalfeatures nearly 1,000 concerts this year (it’s 46^th edition!) by musicians from around the world, on outdoor and indoor stages, with dozens of free events from June 25 and into July.

June is also the month of the Montréal Chamber Music Festival — top-notch classical stylings from June 9 to 21. Scroll down to our music section for more live shows happening in Montréal in June.

At the Bell Centre this month, don’t miss 5 Seconds of Summer on June 3, Don Toliver on June 7, OrelSan on June 11, Joji on June 20, NE-YO and AKON on June 26 and Evanescence on June 30.

You’ll find all sorts of fun music shows at MTELUS, including Baby Keem on June 1, Audrey Hobert on June 2, JF Pauzé on June 4 and 5, Tash Sultana on June 9, Bleachers on June 10, Lou-Adriane Cassidy on June 12, Black Country, New Road on June 16, Lorie on June 17 and 18, Lost on June 20, Lila Downs on June 25, Ca7riel & Paco Amoroso on June 26, and Father John Misty on June 30.

At Théâtre Fairmount in Mile End, catch Napalm Death on June 1, William Basinky on June 2, Le Youth on June 5, Tim Hicks on June 13, Grafix on June 19, Chris Webby and Riff Raff on June 20, Tourist on June 25, Mr Tout le Monde on June 26 and Reverend Horton Heat on June 27.

The world’s best EDM artists come to New City Gas to get you moving, including Melé on June 5, Amine K on June 6, Steve Aoki on June 13, Themba on June 19, Le Twins on June 26 and Antdot on June 27. See the full programming here.

At the SAT this month, don’t miss live music and projections in the incredible Satosphere, among other fun happenings like the celebration of their 30th anniversary! It’s called Futurs Antérieurs and it’s happening over ther three floors from June 5 to 7, uniting dozens ofour favourite EDM and projection artists. On June 19 and 20 see Léonie Pernet and Romane Santarelli, as well as Balthvs. See the full programming here.

Want to experience music and entertainment in a sparkling, velvet-clad theatre? Look no further than Caf’Conc, within the Marriott Château Champlain de Montréal. Find the programming here. 

Groove to live soul, disco, jazz, funk, salsa, Cuban music Fridays and more at Le Balcon, where you can have dinner with a show, go dancing, and enjoy a gospel brunch on weekends. Find the full program for the month here.

Hear live jazz nightly at Montréal’s amazing jazz and blues clubs, like Diese Onze and Upstairs Jazz Bar & Grill. And go out dancing late into the night at Montréal’s dance clubs.

Indie venues Casa del Popolo and Sala Rossa have chock-a-block full monthly programs featuring both local and visiting bands, which you can find here. Look here for the many live events at hole-in-the-wall Barfly. Same for Bar Le Ritz PDB, where there’s a show nearly every night. Explore the lineups at Le Ministère and Turbo Haüs, and follow L’Escogriffe on Facebook to stay on top of all their upcoming shows. L’Hémisphère Gauche, up in Little Italy, is packed with music lovers for their nightly shows, as is Quai des Brumes on the Plateau — it never takes a night off.

TO GET AROUND TOWN

To get where you’re going hassle-free, public transportation is the way to go. The STM has special offers on fares and a handy tool to plan your trip quickly and efficiently. You can also download the Transit and Chrono apps for up-to-the minute bus schedules.